LEWISTON – Police fanned out across the Twin Cities Tuesday arresting more than a dozen local men and women on federal drug charges.
Working in separate teams, investigators raided apartments and houses in both cities and picked up one suspect while she was at work in Lewiston.
In all, 19 people were arrested on drug charges Tuesday, 15 of them from Lewiston or Auburn. All but six of those arrested face federal charges.
More than 150 grams of crack, three vehicles and cash were seized during the raids, police said. More importantly, investigators said, the source of supply for hundreds of people has dried up.
“It will cause the addicts to either seek out new sources, seek out rehabilitation or just say enough is enough and change their lifestyle,” said Maine Drug Enforcement Agency Supervisor Gerry Baril.
Police estimated the street value of the crack was about $200 a gram.
Investigators started early in the day – before most people were headed to work – in hopes of finding their suspects at home.
Starting at 7 a.m., police squads of local, state and federal investigators rolled toward separate locations.
Federal drug agents, local police and an investigator from the Central Maine Violent Crime Task Force went to 198 Third St. in Auburn. While some agents covered the sides of the two-story cape, others pounded on the door while a dog barked inside.
Police said it was Joseph Darling who opened the door after he was roused from sleep. Darling, 27, who lives at that address, was charged with the federal crime of distribution of crack cocaine.
Police said they found baggies with several grams of crack inside the house. They also confiscated a customized Chevy Suburban equipped with several televisions inside from Darling’s yard, investigator said.
At about the same time, another team of drug investigators in Lewiston arrested Darling’s mother, Maureen Mejia. Mejia, 46, still dressed in a robe, was also charged with distribution of crack cocaine.
Without pause, the raids continued for nearly three hours. Police and drug agents stormed homes on Knox, Chestnut, Horton, Main, Bartlett and Pierce streets in Lewiston.
Other investigators swarmed a second home on Third Street in Auburn as well as apartments on Flanders Street and Riverside Drive in that city. One or more arrests were made in each raid as investigators searched for their suspects.
Federal Drug Enforcement Agency investigators who failed to find one of their suspects in the Oak Street area re-routed and drove to the Industrial Park off Outer Lisbon Street.
They went into a business on Saratoga Street and arrested 20-year-old Thelma Hiscock. She was led from her workplace in handcuffs, also charged with federal distribution of crack.
By noon more than a dozen arrests had been made and officials announced a press conference would be held. All the while, more suspects were being rounded up locally and in surrounding towns.
By the end of the day, as news of the drug sweep spread, several people called the local MDEA office to ask if there were warrants out for their arrests.
“The message is out to other dealers,” Baril said. “You know not the hour or the day we are coming, but we are coming.”
The investigation that led to the drug sweep began four months ago, police said. Several suspects came under police scrutiny in February. Others suspects were developed after routine investigations in following months.
In late April, a man walked into the Lewiston Police Department lobby semi-nude and disoriented, investigators said. When a police officer brought him to his Horton Street home, the officer found roughly a pound of crack cocaine inside, investigators said.
That incident led to federal complaints against three men. Each has since been charged with conspiracy to possess and distribute crack.
Two others were charged in May, accused federally of conspiracy to possess and distribute powdered cocaine. Those arrests led to the indictments of two Florida men now facing the same charges. Those men are currently being held in Florida pending extradition to Maine.
Police said 800 grams of crack and 500 grams of cocaine has been taken from suspects since the investigation began.
Most of the suspects charged with trafficking in cocaine Tuesday had been named in federal indictments, according to U.S. Attorney Paula D. Silsby. When it was time to round them up, manpower was not a problem.
The drug sweep Tuesday marked the first time a “Mobile Enforcement Team” of drug investigators was used in Maine. The teams are made up of federal drug agents sent to a particular community for a stay of four to six months.
In addition to those investigators, local police departments and the MDEA, the drug sweep involved officials from the U.S. Marshals Service and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco & Firearms.
“No one agency alone could have done what was done here,” Lewiston Police Chief William Welch said of the drug arrests. “We’re saddened that it’s happening in the Twin Cities. But we’re happy that we’re putting an end to it.”
Welch was joined by Auburn Police Chief Richard Small at the conference as well as Lewiston City Administrator James Bennett and more than a half dozen state and federal officials.
Mark R. Trouville, DEA special agent in charge, said the recent arrests should send a message to others who plan to buy or sell cocaine in the area.
“The individuals who believe trafficking in drugs is a viable occupation in Maine have just been given notice,” Trouville said. “Trafficking these poisons into our neighborhoods is an unconscionable act and one that will not be tolerated.”
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